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The Lloyd’s building, one of the City’s architectural masterpieces, is to be sold to the Chinese life insurance company Ping An for about £260 million.

It will be the first London investment by a Chinese life insurance group.

Designed by Lord Rogers of Riverside, the “inside-out building”, thus nicknamed because its lifts are on the outside of the 289ft (88m) structure, is home to the insurer Lloyd’s of London. Commerz Real, advised by CBRE and Savills, has been trying to sell the office block for some time.

Any refurbishment would be complex because of its listed status and, if Lloyd’s